


Take a Screenshot, It'll Last Longer

by normalcatbehaviour



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/normalcatbehaviour/pseuds/normalcatbehaviour
Summary: The only reason Derek evenhassnapchat is because his sisters forced him to as soon as he upgraded from his faithful nokia (which didn’t break, but was wasstolenthank you very much. Derek’s pretty sure that thing would have survived nuclear war) to a smart phone.He doesn’t really understand why someone called ”stil.awesome” adds him, but he thinks maybe this is how it works?An accidentally added you on snapchat and fell in love with your face au
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 27
Kudos: 417





	Take a Screenshot, It'll Last Longer

**Author's Note:**

> After semi reviving an old laptop and unearthing fic I had forgotten (this being one of the only ones that could pass for being complete) I'm posting in the hope that a fic about snapchat hasn't aged as badly as I suspect it has. 
> 
> Also if this was based on something and I've completely forgotten please forgive me, it's not my intention not to give credit.
> 
> I have no beta and I'm not American so apologies for any typos.

The only reason Derek even _has_ Snapchat is because his sisters forced him to as soon as he upgraded from his faithful Nokia (which didn’t break, but was was _stolen_ thank you very much. Derek’s pretty sure that thing would have survived nuclear war) to a smart phone.

He doesn’t really understand why someone called ”stil.awesome” adds him, but he thinks maybe this is how it works? He’d been under the impression that it was more an _add people you actually know_ situation, but what does he know? Maybe you just add people randomly? Like Twitter...which he also still doesn’t understand, so that might not actually be such a good comparison.

He accepts the invite and is even more confused when he almost immediately receives a picture of what looks like a chemistry book with the caption “my kingdom for the answer to 13c”.

He has some time to kill, so after googling how to save a picture someone sends you on Snapchat, figuring out that he needs to screenshot it (and googling how to do that on his phone, shut up he’s only had it for like 4 months) he replays the snap, saves it, and has a look at the problem.

It is chemistry, and it is difficult, but seeing as Derek had loved chemistry so much in high school he’d almost majored in it in college (he ended up minoring in it and majoring in fine arts instead) it only takes him a minute or so until he has the formula figured out.

He takes a picture of his workings out, sets the time to as long as possible and sends the snap.

He doesn’t really expect a reply, if he’s being honest. So five minutes later when Cora appears at his front door with 3 frozen lasagnas, ranting about how he hadn’t showed up for this week’s friday night dinner and their Mom had ended up grilling her for almost an hour about why she’s _still_ single because Derek wasn’t there to distract her (they have a system of mutual parental distraction that was really nothing but inevitable growing up in their house) Derek doesn’t think twice about leaving his phone in his bedroom while they sit around his kitchen table discussing all the gossip he missed. Hale Family Dinners are the biggest source of gossip Derek’s ever been witness to, and he’s including the entirety of his high school experience in that statement. To be fair though, Hale gossip is never anything hurtful--just things like auntie May’s new haircut and Grandpa Kevin’s latest adventures in finding a new hobby. (This month is life modelling. Derek _really_ doesn’t want to think about it.)

It’s funny, Derek thinks as Cora tells him more about the latest uncle Peter drama, that growing up, it had been Derek and Laura that had been near inseparable. Cora and Derek had been close too--their entire family is, really--but it had been Laura and Derek that were almost always mistaken for twins because of their closeness. But then Laura had gotten married, started a family, and things just changed.

Family dinners became a game between Derek and Cora of _how long until they ask us when we’ll settle down like Laura_. None of that was Laura’s fault, of course, and she was happy, which is what both Derek and Cora cared about most. But that had kick started their sibling solidarity of making sure that neither of them had to field questions about their love lives for more than five minutes before the other changed the topic. It worked for them.

So now, Cora and Derek are closer than they ever had been as children. Which is the only excuse Derek has for not realising what a tremendous mistake mentioning his Snapchat situation to Cora is.

Cora doesn’t say much about it at the time, just murmurs a quiet _huh_ and lets it go. He really should have known better than to think behaviour like that from Cora was a good thing. She never lets anything like that go so quickly unless she’s too busy plotting something to make a witty comment. 

He tries to shrug it off, after all, what’s she going to do? It’s not like he knows anything about stil.awesome. Not like he’ll ever speak to him again. Maybe he should just delete his Snapchat account while he’s ahead.

It’s only hours later, when Derek is back in his room trying to find the sketchbook he’s almost certain fell down the side of his bed, and his phone beeps with a congratulatory ‘omg you learned how to technology i’m so proud’ text from Laura (he doesn’t know why he even bothers to only tell one of his sisters anything anymore. He knows better, he really does) that he notices he has some notifications from Snapchat as well.

stil.awesome has apparently taken a screenshot of his snap and replied twice. Derek can’t really help but smile when he sees the pictures. The first is a blurry picture of a pale face with one of the biggest grins Derek has ever seen, there are hearts drawn around the boy’s head and a big handwritten _THANK YOU_. The second is of a slightly messy dorm room, a bed covered in text books, and the caption _my kingdom as promised, good sir. treat it well_.

Derek shakes his head fondly. Maybe he’ll give Snapchat a chance after all.

*

They send a few snaps back and forth for the next few days. Sometimes Derek doesn’t really understand what stil.awesome is saying, or misses the captions entirely, too busy looking at the face staring back at him, the different expressions he pulls, occasionally the way his body contorts to fit into the frame. 

He learns, through his amazing powers of deduction (also known as the fact that stil.awesome seems to be able to babble even when he only has one line of text available) that he’s not so much a boy as he is a young looking man. Derek’s not going to admit how glad he is of that fact. He’s not. He has no reason to be glad this person is in college and not high school, _absolutely none_. He also learns that his Dad’s a Sheriff (and once again, Derek’s not counting his blessings that stil.awesome has mentioned he’s 19. _Nope_ ), and that he has a best friend called Scott who seems to be some kind of actual puppy turned human.

What he doesn’t learn at any point in the dozens of messages they’ve now exchanged is stil.awesome’s _name_. He knows his best friend’s name, he knows his roommate's name, he knows the name of the puppy stil.awesome had spent three months trying to convince his Dad to let him adopt when he was 12--but every time Derek thinks about asking _his_ name, he manages to convince himself he’s left it too long now, it would be awkward. So stil.awesome he remains.

Somehow, though, that doesn’t stop this person is slowly carving a place into his life. But how can that be possible? So fast? And in such an unconventional way? He can’t help but think that of what little he already knows of stil.awesome, it’s probably a normal occurrence for him. He can’t imagine a single person meeting him and not being entranced straight away.

*

_so i went to thank you with reeces in class today_ , he gets a week after that first message, over a picture of the same pale, mole speckled face he become accustomed to recently. This time, though, his expression is more of a frown. Derek frowns back.

_& i realise now u r not who i thought u were_, comes through a minute later and Derek...is confused.

_i added the wrong person SORRY DUDE_

Theres a slight blush on stil.awesome’s cheeks, and Derek wants to press his hands against them and feel the heat there, to tell him not to be embarrassed. He wants to find the perfect shade of paint to match his blush and create a masterpiece. Derek may have a problem.

He’s contemplating just what in the world he’s meant to reply to that that isn’t going to sound creepy as hell--he had, after all, sent back messages to someone who _he knew_ he didn’t know. Even though it’s not his fault he didn’t know that was how it was meant to work, he can’t help but feel a little embarrassed himself--when another picture comes through. 

The grin is back on the man’s face--an expression that Derek would probably call fond, if he wasn’t still feeling the last dregs of embarrassment leave him--the caption _but srsly thanks for helping anyway_ sitting above his head.

Derek’s palms are sweating, and he feels ridiculous, but the feeling of relief that stil.awesome is still talking to him is so strong that he realises he’s been holding his breath only when the massive exhale leaves him.

_who did you think i was?_ , Derek quickly sends back before he loses his nerve.

_a classmate called dale_

Derek bites his lip, decides it’s now or never. _no dale here. just derek_ , he types. He hesitates again, then decides to go for broke and draw a little smiley face under the caption. He almost instantly regrets it, spends a minute questioning every one of his life choices that led him to this point in life, when his phone lights up again.

_nice to meet you derek_ , says the caption over half a face and a large waving hand, a handwritten _I’M STILES :)_ at the bottom of the screen.

“Stiles,” Derek says, testing the name on his tongue. “Okay.”

*

That night , he doesn’t sleep. Instead he paints until morning, a canvas of colors that are hectic and beautiful. He names the piece _Discovery_ but knows that it’ll never be anything but _Stiles_ in his own head.

*

_u no, we’ve been talking for weeks now_

_and i still don’t no what u look like_

Derek thinks about all the photos Stiles has sent him of himself, even when the caption has been something as random as ‘i just saw the biggest pigeon in the world’. Derek tends to just take a picture of the sky or a wall if he’s sending a sentence without a picture that relates to it. And Stiles is right, he’s never sent a picture of himself. He’d sent a picture of his hand once to show how big a leaf was in comparison (it had been a _really big leaf_ , okay? and Stiles’ _holy shit dude that’s massive_ had been worth any feeling of ridiculousness he might have felt at first for sending it) but that’s as much as Stiles has seen of him. 

It hasn’t been a conscious decision, Derek isn’t hiding himself or anything. He just hasn’t said anything that needed a picture of him along with it yet, so he shrugs, takes a quick picture of himself waving, and sends it without much thought. He isn’t expecting the response he gets.

_HOYL SHIT DUDE SOME WARNING’D BE NICE_ , comes Stiles’ reaction over a blurry picture of what Derek assumes was Stiles face, but mostly just looks like a swirl of colors.

_??????_ , is all Derek can think to say. He shakes his head at himself, but Stiles knows by now that he’s not the best at communication. Besides, Stiles definitely speaks enough for the both of them.

_MY EYES_

_THEY MAY NEVER RECOVER_

_WHAT R U A FUCKING MODEL ???_

_JESUS CHRIST_ , all come in quick succession over pictures of Stiles’ face becoming more and more wide eyed.

What follows next is a five second video of Stiles with his hand covering his eyes, lying upside down on his bed, saying “Oh my God, Derek” over and over again. Derek had never wished he could save Snapchat videos more in his _life_.

Derek knows, theoretically, that people tend to find him attractive. It was difficult to ignore people staring and whispering after he came back to his hometown last year, years older than when he left and grown into his gangly limbs and slightly oddly proportioned features, so he does know. 

But it’s one thing to know that, and another thing completely to have someone say it to him so directly. He’s pretty sure that those things coming from most people would make him feel uncomfortable or self conscious, but for some reason from Stiles it just makes his cheeks heat and a smile try to break out over his face.

He quickly takes another picture of himself and sends it to Stiles, writes a neat little _thank you_ in the corner and only debates whether to actually send it for a couple of minutes.

Stiles has no such problems with replying straight away, it seems.

_is that a bLUSH?????_

_AND A SMILE????_

_rip me. killed to death my derek’s dumb face_

_what a way to go tho_

Derek buries his face in his couch cushion and tries to remind himself that this is nothing. It’s just friends being friendly. He’s not going to get his hopes up.

Derek isn’t sure who he thinks he’s kidding, but it’s definitely not himself.

**Author's Note:**

> In stiles’ defence, dhale.24 is really similar to dale.24. that damn _h_ , man. Clearly fate took over Stiles’ thumbs for a minute there. 
> 
> CORA STEALS DEREK’S PHONE AT SOME POINT AND FINDS STILES’ SNAPCHAT NAME adds him.  
> sends him numerous snaps that start with WHAT DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING WITH MY BROTHER  
> AND GETTING STEADILY MORE OH MY GOD YOURE BOTH IDEOTS JUST ASK EACH OTHER OUT  
> AND STILES IS ALL??? BUT HE DOESNT LIKE ME LIKE THAT???  
> AND CORA IS ALL. R U KIDDING ME. LOOK AT THIS STUPID FUCKING SKETCH HE DID OF YOUR FACE. HE KEEPS LEAVING  
>  SKETCHES OF YOU ALL OVER MY APARTMENT  
> . MAKE IT STOP.
> 
> Now with [bonus art](https://normalcatbehaviour.tumblr.com/post/622486766954397696/art-for-take-a-screenshot-itll-last-longer-an) that I forgot I made


End file.
